Yokohama Rubber Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for Mexico Tire Plant Construction

Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has announced the recent holding of a groundbreaking ceremony on April 15 to mark the commencement of construction for its new passenger car tire plant in Mexico. The event saw the presence of numerous local government officials and community representatives, including Coahuila Governor Manolo Jiménez Salinas and Saltillo Mayor Jose Maria Fraustro Siller. Yokohama Rubber's Chairman & CEO Masataka Yamaishi and Member of the Board and Senior Managing Officer & Co-COO Nitin Mantri were among the attendees, along with Shinichi Takimoto, Chairman and CEO of Yokohama Corporation of North America (YCNA), a subsidiary handling tire sales, and Jeff Barna, President and CEO of Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC), a US-based tire sales subsidiary.

During their opening remarks, Yamaishi and Barna conveyed their appreciation for the forthcoming efforts in constructing the plant and emphasized its significance in localizing Yokohama Rubber's operations in the North American market. The new facility will bolster Yokohama Rubber's tire production capacity in North America, allowing the company to cater to an anticipated surge in regional demand by manufacturing tires locally. With an annual production capacity of 5 million tires, construction of the Mexico plant is set to commence in the second quarter of 2024, with production slated to commence in the first quarter of 2027. The company will explore options for expanding the plant's capacity in the future.

In Yokohama Rubber's new three-year (2024–2026) medium-term management plan, known as Yokohama Transformation 2026 (YX2026), the consumer tire strategy seeks to optimize the sales composition by increasing the market share of high-value-added tires. This entails expanding the sales of YOKOHAMA's globally recognized flagship ADVAN brand, the GEOLANDAR brand tailored for SUVs and pickup trucks, winter tires, and tires sized 18 inches and larger. Additionally, the plan will uphold the "Product and Regional Strategies" approach, which prioritizes enhancing the development, supply, and sales of tires tailored to specific market trends in each geographical region.

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., was founded on October 13, 1917, through a collaboration between the Yokohama Electric Cable Manufacturing Company (the forerunner of today's Furukawa Electric Co.) and the BFGoodrich Company of the United States. In 1920, the Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., finalized the construction of its inaugural production facility, the Hiranuma Plant, situated in Hiranuma-cho, Yokohama. This plant commenced the manufacturing of belts, tires, and various other products, employing refining techniques and manufacturing machinery for belts, hoses, and tires imported from the United States.